


Take Me Home

by delicatelyglitterywriter



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Kara Palamas Deserved Better, Kara Palamas Needs A Hug, seriously someone give this girl a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-21
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-20 14:45:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12435012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delicatelyglitterywriter/pseuds/delicatelyglitterywriter
Summary: After Kara is rescued by SHIELD, her mother comes to take her home.





	Take Me Home

**Author's Note:**

> Expansion of Pi's amazing minifc here: [Platonic DaisyKara + Ice Cream](http://memorizingthedigitsofpi.tumblr.com/post/166627472072/platonic-daisykara-ice-cream)
> 
> Expanded and published with permission from Pi. Seriously, she's amazing. Go check out her other stuff: [memorizingthedigitsofpi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/memorizingthedigitsofpi)

Kara sat stiffly in the interrogation room, arms crossed and hair defiantly back from her scarred face. She was putting on a front, but acting tough was just as good as being tough because no one knew what she was thinking except her.

Or at least, that’s how she’d thought before Bakshi.

She could feel the panic rising up inside of her at the memory of being trapped in that chair with her eyes propped open, watching that film again and again and-

“Here.”

Kara blinked, returning to the present. She frowned when she looked up.

“Skye,” she hissed. She didn’t really remember why she hated her, she just knew that she did.

“Yeah, it’s actually Daisy now? But don’t worry about that. You’ve had kind of a rough time.” She nudged the bowl, point at its contents. “Eat up before it melts.”

Kara looked down. Ice cream. “Is that-?” She squinted.

“Maple walnut. That’s your favourite, right?”

“How did you-?”

“Your mom told me.”

Kara froze. Her mother was here? Oh god, she couldn’t let her mother see her like this. She’d-

“It’s okay. She knows.”

Daisy was looking at her with … kindness? Was that what that expression was? She couldn’t quite remember.  Self-consciously, she reached up with one hand, almost but not quite touching her scarred cheek.

“She’s seen pictures. She knows what happened.”

Kara’s breathing sped up as her adrenaline kicked in. She wanted to fight, to escape from here and run away.

“She’s here to take you home. To take care of you. She’s your mom. She loves you.”

Something welled up inside of Kara, a feeling she hadn’t felt in oh so long. She could feel the tears in her eyes wanting to fall, but she wouldn’t let them.

“It’s okay, Kara. Eat your ice cream. I’m going to go get your mom.”

Before she left, Daisy put a box of kleenex on the table.

Kara picked up the spoon. She scooped a bit of the ice cream up. She carefully slid it into her mouth. It tasted just as good as she remembered; even better since she hadn’t had it in a long time.

She pressed her lips into a tight line as tears stung her eyes. She would not cry. Not here. Not now. Not over ice cream.

She swallowed hard, the ice cream burning her throat on the way down. She coughed twice, raising her fist to cover her mouth out of habit. She didn’t lower her fist after coughing, though. She kept it right where it was, pressing it against her philtrum to keep her emotions back.

Kara put her spoon down as gently as she could, knowing that if she laid it down with even the tiniest bit of force, she’d break. She’d start crying, and wouldn’t stop until she was all cried out. She hated crying that much. So she’d rather not trigger it.

She took a deep breath in, held it, then slowly exhaled. She moved her fist away from her mouth, and repeated. With each breath in, she clenched the fist so hard that it hurt, and she tried to release it as she breathed out, but she couldn’t bring herself to. If felt like that her fist was the only thing keeping her emotions from tumbling over.

Kara didn’t know how long this went on for, but she was interrupted by a soft voice. Her mother’s voice.

“Kara?”

Her head shot up, and saw her mother at the door, hesitating. All effort that had been used to keep herself from breaking down went to waste as her face crumpled; her earlier facade falling away.

“Mom,” she croaked out, her voice cracking. 

In the next second, she found herself on the floor in her mother’s arms, tears streaming down her face. Her mother rubbed her back, while hushing her. From her voice, Kara could tell she was crying, too.

“Oh, baby,” her mother whispered, kissing the top of her head.

Kara knew that she wants to say more, but can’t find the words. But it’s okay, Kara knew what she meant.

_I’m here._

_I love you._

_You’re safe._

_I love you._

_I was so scared._

_I love you._

_I will kill those responsible with my bare hands._

_I love you so much._

_My baby, I love you with all of my heart. I will never stop loving you._

Kara squeezed her eyes shut, a sob escaping her throat. She wanted to say so much, but no words came. Only cry.

_I love you, too, mom._

_Thank you for coming._

_Please don’t ever let me go._

_It hurt so much._

_I’m scared._

_I feel so alone._

_I love you so much, mom._

A long time passed. Kara cried her eyes dry in her mother’s embrace. Her mother held tight until she was done. She didn’t let go until Kara pushed herself upright, swiping at her eyes.

Kara kept her head down, not quite wanting to look her mother in the face; she was afraid to. She was afraid she’d begin crying again. She was afraid that her mother would begin crying again upon looking at her face.

~~(She was afraid her mother wouldn’t want her anymore).~~

Despite her emotions, Kara didn’t fight it when her mother gently cupped her face, lifting her chin so that she could see her face. Kara swallowed, hard, still refusing to make eye contact as her mother examined the scars.

Nothing was said for a long moment.

A long, excruciating moment.

Finally, her mother managed to murmur a sad, “Oh, Kara.”

Kara chomped her bottom lip between her teeth, closing her eyes and lowering her head again.

“Please don’t leave me behind,” she whispered. She felt ashamed to want to go home, but she didn’t want to be left behind either.

“Baby, what makes you think I would ever leave you behind?” her mother asked her softly, letting her hand drop from Kara’s cheek.

“I-I’m broken,” Kara answered, feeling the arm holding her up shaking. The panic she had felt earlier was making her chest feel tight again. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain steady. She tried to say more, but no words came out.

“That doesn’t matter,” her mother soothed, pulling Kara back into her arms. “You’re still my daughter, and I love you dearly.”

Kara lifted one hand to hold onto her mother’s arm and held on tightly. Her mother hushed her again, running her other hand soothingly through Kara’s hair.

After a long while, Kara managed to speak again.

“Home?”

“Yeah,” her mother agreed. “Let’s go home.”

Slowly, her mother stood up, helping Kara to her feet. They turned to leave when her mother hesitated.

“Should we take the ice cream with us?”

For the first time in a long time, Kara smiled, reaching up to rub her left eye. She shook her head.

“We can get more at home.”

“True,” her mother mused. “It just seems a shame to waste it.”

“Trust me, Ms Palamas,” Daisy said, appearing with a bag. “It won’t go to waste.”

She accentuated her sentence with a wink. Kara watched as her mother smiled at Daisy, then broke away momentarily to hug her.

“Thank you, for saving my little girl,” she said.

Daisy hugged back, not saying anything. The two separated and Daisy handed Kara a bag.

“It’s just a few things to help you out as you get used to being a civilian again,” Daisy explained. Kara nodded, unable to say anything. “And remember, we’re only a call away if you ever need anything at all.”

Her mother thanked Daisy again, and she made eye contact as she went past. Daisy raised a hand in a small wave as goodbye, and Kara nodded again. She was glad that Daisy wasn’t making a big deal out of it. She didn’t want it to be extravagant. It felt wrong to be an event.

“Thank you for your service, Kara,” Coulson said as she began walking up the stairs to board the Quinjet that would take them home. “Stay safe.”

Kara nodded for a third time, not trusting herself to say anything. She and her mother strapped themselves into their seats in the Quinjet, and just like that, they were on their way home.

Kara shifted herself so that she could lean against her mother’s shoulder. Her mother wrapped an arm around her, and Kara sighed, exhaustion finally taking her over. She closed her eyes again, but this time it was a peaceful action.

“Thanks for coming to get me, mom,” she murmured. "I'm sorry that you had to see me like that."

Her mother responded by giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"You're only a human, sweetie. You're allowed to feel."

In that moment, although she didn't feel instantly better, she felt like some of the weight sitting on her shoulders had been lifted. For the first time since she was rescued, her chest didn't feel tight at all; it felt relaxed, and free, and open. In this mood, Kara drifted off to sleep.

When she was shaken awake a few hours later, it was to tell her that they were home at last.

**Author's Note:**

> Again, Pi is amazing and huge thanks to her for letting me write this. Go on, all of you. After you'd kudo'd this work and commented, go shower her with love. She deserves all of it.
> 
> And yes, I am aware of the tonal shift, but that happens quite often when two authors are writing the same story, so shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


End file.
